European Time Change «

Europe moved its time forward by one hour early this morning (Sunday), to mark the start of European Summer Time (the equivalent to Daylight Saving Time). The European time change does not really have any consequences for US traders (whose time zone makes it somewhat awkward to trade the European and Asian markets), but it can have consequences for European and Asian traders.

For European traders, it means that the US markets will go back to their regular opening time (i.e. the US markets will open at 3:30 PM Central European Time again, instead of 2:30 PM Central European Time as they have been for the past two weeks), and the Asian markets’ afternoon session will start one hour later (i.e. at 8:30 AM Central European Time instead of 7:30 AM Central European Time), so European traders can have an extra hour in bed and still trade the Asian markets.

For Asian traders, the European time change means that the European markets will open one hour earlier (i.e. the European markets will open at 3:00 PM Hong Kong Time, instead of 4:00 PM Hong Kong Time), so Asian traders can trade the European markets for one additional hour without working any longer than usual.